Kitty c. 1908

Alfred Stieglitz made this gelatin silver print, "Kitty," sometime in his career. It looks like an intimate and quiet portrait of a girl with long dark hair. I wonder what Stieglitz was thinking, making this! Was he trying to capture a sense of youthful innocence, or a more complex inner life? The soft lighting and close-up composition draw you in, but it's the girl's steady gaze that really holds your attention. The details of her face and hair are so delicate, like he’s trying to capture something fleeting. It reminds me of other photographers and painters who are good at portraits - like Alice Neel, they capture something raw and real in their subjects. It feels like Stieglitz is part of a conversation, a long line of artists trying to capture a likeness, a feeling, an essence of another person. To me, that’s what artmaking is all about – an exchange of ideas across time, where artists inspire one another.